WHO official remains quiet on Taiwan membership

A senior official in the WHO’s Brussels office has remained tight-lipped on the prospects of Taiwan joining the global health organisation.

Since 1997, Taiwan has been trying unsuccessfully to obtain observer status at the world health assembly, the WHO’s governing body.

Taiwan will apply again when the WHA convenes in Geneva for its general assembly on 19 May.

But speaking in Brussels on Monday, the deputy director of the WHO’s regional office in Brussels said the island’s prospects of WHO membership or observer status rest solely with the organisation’s member states and its governing body.

Nata Menabde said she hoped that all countries would have a role to play in the global health network.

But she would not be drawn on Taiwan’s rights to join the organisation.

"This is a constitutional and legal matter," said the Copenhagen-based official, who was in Brussels as a keynote speaker at an event to mark World Health Day.

Taiwan insists that its continued exclusion from the WHO prevents it from obtaining the latest information from the international community and the WHO on health prevention measures and epidemiological conditions.

Her comments come after Taiwan's election cabinet spokesperson Shieh Jhy-wey reaffirmed that Taiwan is qualified to join the WHO as an observer.

Commending the country on its "important and remarkable" contribution to world health, Jhy-wey said that "without Taiwan’s participation in the WHO, the network of epidemic prevention and control around the world would be inadequate".

She added that work on Taiwan’s attempt to join the WHO is already under way and said its goal would not be changed, despite the new administration set to take the reins of power on 20 May.

Meanwhile, Menabde told the Brussels audience that health systems can play a pivotal role in protecting health from climate change.

She said that while climate change has largely been framed in terms of environmental and economic concerns, experts are calling for a greater role for health systems in dealing with its immediate and future health consequences.

According to the latest projections, future effects of heatwaves, floods and droughts are likely to harm the health of millions of people if global warming continues unconstrained.

However, Menabde said it would be wrong to attribute all the ills of the world to climate change.

"It would be quite wrong to say that everything is the result of global warming. What is needed to take proper action is accurate and scientific-based information."

In a video address, WHO director general Margaret Chen said, "The core concern is succinctly stated: climate change endangers human health.

"The warming of the planet will be gradual but the effects of extreme weather events will be abrupt and acutely felt."

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